This weekend I went to Annecy with two American girls from my residence, and one of their friends who is studying in Montpellier. Hannah, who suggested the trip, had told me about Annecy, and that it known for being the "Venice of France". I was very excited to go. I had a great time, the weekend did not disappoint!

Day 1: Friday

We got on a bus to Chambery at 11:32am. The bus ride was a bit long and the air was stuffy. Hannah was stuck beside a guy who was rolling cigarettes and drinking hard liquor… on top of playing with a lighter. And in the seat behind us was a couple who could not keep their hands off of each other. After about 1.5 hours on the bus, we made it to Chambery and transferred (just in the knick of time) to our train to Annecy. The train ride was only about 45 minutes, and much more comfortable (and less weird) than the bus.

We arrived in Annecy shortly after 1:00. We found our hostel, got a quick lunch and headed off the Vieille Ville (Old town) to explore. We quickly saw that Annecy lived up to its name of "the Venice of France". The many canals flowing through the rows of old houses and shops gave the small town a very charming and picturesque quality.

We found a castle that sits in the middle of the Canal, called "Le palais de l'ile". It's amazing to see because it's shaped like a boat, and looks like its sitting on water. We took a tour through it (students get the tours at half off which is great!) and learned that it was used as a prison, and later was the location of the mint were they made coins. (A multi-use structure for sure).

Afterwards, we found the castle that sits above the town, but it was closed for the night, so we grabbed some "vin chaud" (hot wine) from a café. Hot wine is very good, it tastes like a hot spiced-sangria. It really hits the spot on a cold day.

After heading back to the hostel to change, we went out to dinner at a local restaurant. We had a local dish called "tartiflette". It's a baked creamy potato, onion and ham casserole smothered in cheese. It was really delicious, but very filling. We weren't able to finish all of it.

After dinner we had a couple pints and called it a night.